Deadlock Brings Nicaragua Dialogue To Grinding Halt – Again

A lack of consensus on a proposal to bring in international human rights organizations has prompted the suspension of dialogue in Nicaragua between opposition sectors and the government led by President Daniel Ortega, EFE reported Friday.

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Several proposals have resulted in deadlock. A proposal by the government that the opposition lift roadblocks and barricades during the dialogue was rejected by the opposition. The roadblocks, carried out by groups armed with mortars, have halted the country’s economy in many parts and inhibited daily life.

The Episcopal Conference, which is mediating the dialogue, has proposed that the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) invite the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights and of the European Union to the country. While the proposal was backed by the business sectors and university students who represent the opposition, the government delegation, led by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, abstained.

The auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Baez, said it was regrettable that a deadlock had been reached: halting the dialogue "may be endangering the stability of the nation," Baez said.

The dialogue was previously halted on May 23 after the opposition demanded President Ortega step down before finishing his term in 2021. The demand was criticized by Moncada, who called it an attempted coup.

Dialogue resumed early June 15, before coming to a halt again later that day.

The Nicaraguan political crisis began in mid-April with protests against social security reforms that President Ortega later withdrew in a bid to halt the escalation in violence.

The social security reforms were proposed after a series of lengthy negotiations with business sectors, who had been proposing harsher social security cuts proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the government ultimately rejected.